Panama papers: British PM David Cameron admits he benefited from father's offshore business

ritain's Prime Minister David Cameron (L) and his wife Samantha pose for a photograph during their holiday in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote March 25, 2016Reuters

British Prime Minister David Cameron admitted he had benefited financially from the offshore trust his father Ian Cameron had set up in the 1980s.

Cameron said he and his wife Samantha owned shares in Blairmore Holdings, which has been named in the Panama papers relating to secret offshore dealings facilitated by law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Cameron and Samantha sold the "bearer shares" in his father's trust for £30,000 in 2010.

However, the prime minister told ITV News he paid all UK taxes on the profits he made from Blairmore shares and that he did not resorted to tax avoidance.

"We owned 5,000 units in Blairmore Investment Trust, which we sold in January 2010," the PM told ITV News.

"Samantha and I had a joint account and we owned 5,000 units in Blairmore investment trust which we sold in January 2010, that was worth something like £30,000."

The prime minister's admission of benefit flew in the face of the Downing Street statement on Wednesday that said Cameron, his wife and children did not benefit from the offshore funds.

The initial response of the Downing Street when Ian Cameron's offshore business details were revealed in the Panama papers was that it was a "private matter".

The priming minister underscored this stance the same day when he said: "I have no shares, no offshore trusts, no offshore funds, nothing like that. And, so that, I think, is a very clear description".

With more details emerging and more questions raised, his office modified the statement on Wednesday: "The prime minister owns no shares. As has been previously reported, Mrs Cameron owns a small number of shares connected to her father's land, which she declares on her tax return."